Sen. Corey Brown (R-Gettysburg) said it’s important to note that South Dakota is not the only state facing a teacher shortage.
“Fifty out of the 50 states have a similar problem,” he said. “If the teacher shortage issue were strictly limited to South Dakota, then I would think maybe we’re doing something wrong, and it’s something that we have to address solely here. [B]ut when we’re seeing it across the entire nation, that tells me that whether we like it or not, we’ve got a dynamic and a trend that we need to adjust to, so there has to be other ways to adjust to this” [Tasi Livermont, “Changing the Way We Educate Educators Could Be One Answer,” Dakotafire, 2015.11.20].
To work off that fourth scoop of Stove Top, your challenge is to figure out what Senator Brown means. Why is it important for South Dakota legislators to note that we are not the only state facing a teacher shortage? Senator Brown and his Republican colleagues like to mention that fact, but how does that fact affect our mandate to counteract our teacher shortage?
Senator Brown says, “If the teacher shortage issue were strictly limited to South Dakota, then I would think maybe we’re doing something wrong….” Is Senator Brown trying to say we aren’t to blame? Does an absence of blame for a problem excuse the Legislature from enacting a solution?
Senator Brown says a state-specific teacher shortage would mean “it’s something that we have to address solely here.” Well, Spearfish isn’t the only town where houses and grass catch fire, but non-uniqueness has zero impact on the urgency with which Spearfish needs to reconstitute a fire department.
The last half of Senator Brown’s word string—”when we’re seeing it across the entire nation, that tells me that whether we like it or not, we’ve got a dynamic and a trend that we need to adjust to, so there has to be other ways to adjust to this”—offers no guidance to legislators and no weight to any argument for any policy. The South Dakota Legislature needs to “adjust to” any “dynamic” and “trend” that affects only South Dakota as surely as it must respond to problems affecting the entire nation. In fact, Senator Brown’s word-ramble may actually get the situation backwards: a problem affecting the entire nation (like immigration or international trade) may behoove Congress or the federal Executive to act more than any one state legislature.
I don’t think that Senator Brown is setting up a crafty argument against state-level action as spitting into a national wind; I prefer to believe that his statement to Livermont is simply the product of setting his mouth on autopilot as he wrestles with the new recognition that he and his colleagues in Pierre must end two generations of neglect of teacher pay and K-12 education.
49 other states can’t lead the nation in lowest teacher pay for the past thirty years,Sport. You own the distinction of being numero uno in parsimonious pay for teachers,so drop the questions and stick to the assignment- How to raise teacher pay.
Maybe I should have said cheaters which wingnuts would read as teachers.
That doesn’t absolve the facts that make South Dakota the worst of the worst.
jerry
2015-11-27 08:55
Brown’s nonsense probably works well in Gettysburg so he tries to do it statewide. The only thing his spiel proves is that he knows we have a serious problem but he is to politically numb to do anything about it. More Ben Carson word salad. These guys must have had a webinar to teach them the same kind of ridiculous word games. Browny, were on to you and the rest of the cabal in Pierre. Here is the solution, Expand Medicaid. There, that is the solution to bringing in the needed funds to bolster just about all our ills.
90 Schilling
2015-11-27 09:08
Corey bucked Gov Rounds and had a bright future. Gov ordered him In and paddled his can. Just another Gant left the executive office that day.
jerry
2015-11-27 09:10
Even the Mormons understand the value of education for their polygamous sects like the one we have here in Pringle. http://www.sltrib.com/home/3229174-155/public-library-set-to-open-in
Educations are important and we need the vehicles to provide that here for all of our students. I think Browny may be wanting to privatize the schools for his outlaw bunch to skim moolah.
mike from iowa
2015-11-27 09:41
I’m guessing wingnuts lay all the blame on social programs such as food stamps, housing projects,welfare for women with dependent children, and of course,blacks.Medicare,Medicaid,abortions.hippies,Libs and free love with childhood vaccines thrown in for good measure. If it weren’t for Blacks,Hispanics.Indians and other persons of color,Whites wouldn’t need to be racists.
Conservatives are forgetting what a conservative is. They think the government does nothing because capitalism fixes it all by itself. Well if we have a shortage the prices should go up, that is the price of teacher pay. That is basic simple capitalism.
Thinking that everyone else has the problem as well means that if we are a bunch of lemmings running off a cliff that we can have self confidence since everyone else is doing it as well. Conservatives are supposed to be for personal responsibility rather than let the feds do it because it is a big problem that we brought on ourselves.
If this clown Brown gets reelected will be proof that the electorate are so disenchanted with government that the voters are not even looking anymore. To many people really do not care about their democracy anymore when they elect such idiots.
Lanny V Stricherz
2015-11-27 10:53
When I saw 90 Schilling’s comment, it reminded me of something I heard the other day, but have been unable to confirm. Did Dusty Johnson leave South Dakota government?
owen reitzel
2015-11-27 11:10
Brown is just setting up the Republican talking points that you’ll hear when the legislature convenes and it’ll lead to doing nothing.
Another Republican who doesn’t have the ability to lead.
mike from iowa
2015-11-27 12:48
Johnson joined Vantage Point Solutions, Was hired because of who he knows.
Disgusted Dakotan
2015-11-27 14:54
Brown? A conservative?! Come on people! Take a look at all the past legislative voting reports. The guy is a moderate who diligently carrys water for the RINO Daugaard political machine. He’s voted for every tax increase, every government spending increase, every agenda Daugaard has pushed.
Richard Schriever
2015-11-27 16:16
Sadly – I believe it is beyond the intellectual capability of any “conservative” to concoct a “logic stream” (however faulty) in service of doing anything other to as little as possible. Same sort of “truthiness” phenomena at work in “conservative” presidential candidates ability to escape accountability for easily identified LIES they speak on the campaign trail. If it “sounds like/represents how I feel” to voters – it’s the “truth”. I.E., an emotional truth TRUMPS any scientific, analytical truth.
grudznick
2015-11-27 16:26
Mr. Dakotan, when I look at ALL the past legislature score cards, I see young Mr. Brown as one of the most effective legislatures there. When I look at the whackjob score cards, I just laugh.
chuck standen
2015-11-27 18:03
And so it begins. It will be fascinating, sad but fascinating, to observe the contortions of the Republican legislators as they avoid doing anything constructive on this issue.
Bob Newland
2015-11-27 19:59
90 schilling noted: “…just another Gant.”
The physical similarity is breathtaking.
grudznick
2015-11-27 20:40
Bob, tomorrow at breakfast we will measure neck, jaw, maw and cranium circumferences. I suspect mine and yours are similar.
grudznick
2015-11-27 20:42
I have a cloth tape. It is some sort of sewing tool that I cannot explain. This is how we will measure heads and maws.
Bob Newland
2015-11-27 20:51
grudznick has a needledick and a pencilneck, and an obvious restriction of cranial space. Jesus Christ, is his/her string of worthess comments tiresome!
moses
2015-11-27 20:54
Lanny, is that the guy who tried about every position in Govy jumping more than a paratrooper.
Lanny V Stricherz
2015-11-27 21:38
Yes Moses, that’s the guy. At one time he looked like a sure fire future governor, Now I am not so sure.
Lanny V Stricherz
2015-11-27 21:44
Just looked at VPS. Under staying ahead of the curve, was this quote, “Many engineering and consulting companies can’t keep up with changing technology or regulatory issues. We have people dedicated to this. We stay ahead of the curve, so our clients do, too.” Dusty should be able to tell them what to say in front of the PUC to get something approved, or to the governor and legislature to get some of that economic development money.
Lanny V Stricherz
2015-11-27 21:57
Oh and one other thing, I am sure that the reason Dusty resigned and took the job in the private sector, is that he wants to spend more time with his family, not that he is worried where the EB-5 investigation might lead.
grudznick
2015-11-27 22:03
So the other morning at breakfast my friend Bob walks in, sporting one of those goofy hats of his. Then he breaks into some sort of rap about “kicking him, oh come on and kick him, we all have our problems but he has his eyes wide, we have big G’s but he has his hash pipe.”
This confuses me but he has his hash pipe so all is right in his mind.
Folks, this is not benign cannabis use here. This is drug addition and dealing.
Disgusted Dakotan
2015-11-27 23:38
Really? GNick? He’s one of the most effective “legislatures” there?
You claim to appreciate libertarians but support the opposite? Maybe you’re doing more than appreciating Bob’s pipes?
Whither
2015-11-28 11:29
The SD Legislature will follow DD’s lead in 2016 and fold like a lawn chair on K-12 funding reform. The only question remaining is will they collectively try to convince the populace that they really are doing something, or will they be bold enough, as it appears Brown does here, to look everyone in the eye and say, “There’s nothing we can do. But don’t worry, everything will be fine.”
Bob Newland
2015-11-28 11:39
Selling cannabis to willing buyers is one of the ways we in America l make the world go round. Grudzneck does all (s)he can to slow it down. That, my DFP friends, is not part of the resume of a good American.
O
2015-11-28 15:30
Disgusted Dakotan, is any Republican who sees a need and increases state funding (taxes) to meet that need by definition a “RINO?” You act as if raising taxes is the end of itself – that taxation decisions are made in a vacuum.
In a discussion on taxation that eliminates all discussion of the need for services and benefits of providing those services, then the “no new taxes” mantra works; however, when the discussion progresses beyond politics and into governance, meeting crucial needs of a state goes beyond the simplistic fortune cookie slogans.
bearcreekbat
2015-11-28 16:54
That is a great point O. It makes me think of the typical Republican argument that government should be like a family and balance the budget.
In a typical family the breadwinners have a duty to try to maximize the family income so they can provide all the things that family members need, such as food, housing, clothing, education and medical care. If the breadwinner decided to quit earning the income necessary to pay for these things, Republicans would demonize him or her as a lazy non-contributing member of the family.
Cutting taxes accomplishes for our government what quitting a job does for a family. The government stops doing what is necessary to maximize income, goes into debt, and cannot afford to pay for the goods and services needed by the people.
Under the Republican family analogy, then, folks who don’t want to pay taxes are no different than the lazy breadwinner who refuses to work at a job. They are like the teenager who wants a nice warm place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear, but refuses to participate in the family by taking on a fair share of the chores.
Under the Republican family analogy, tax opponents are like selfish teens and lazy breadwinners, they just don’t want to pay their fair share, and fail to recognize that maximizing income and resources benefits their political family, just as working to earn as much money as possible and sharing in the chores of the household benefits a regular family.
I believe the third installment is on the website as well, about ‘encore careers,’ but not written by yours truly. :)
90 Schilling
2015-11-29 09:31
Does anyone not believe the money would be there if abuse and waste was not tolerated? Clean house and balance the budget. It’s not just teachers in SD. We rise together or we fall apart.
The article discusses the possibility of filling teaching vacancies with previously stay-at-home moms seeking “encore careers.” “If we can’t change pay,” says DeSmet teacher Angie Baszler, “then we need to figure out how to get people who are excellent teachers to go back and do it for something other than the money.”
Doesn’t that prescription sound an awful lot like the teacher pool on which we relied for generations—farm wives looking to supplement household income and not demanding full professional wages—but which has collapsed with the hollowing out of rural America and has left us with a teacher shortage? Doesn’t it sound like South Dakota still trying to get by without paying for the full value of the service it receives? How many other businesses count on finding workers who do the job for sub-par wages just because they love the work?
49 other states can’t lead the nation in lowest teacher pay for the past thirty years,Sport. You own the distinction of being numero uno in parsimonious pay for teachers,so drop the questions and stick to the assignment- How to raise teacher pay.
Maybe I should have said cheaters which wingnuts would read as teachers.
South Dakota Democrats: flee while you still can.
So, once again, the Republican solution is to identify the problem and then do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! This is becoming their national brand!
The teacher shortage is a national problem: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/20/why-todays-college-students-dont-want-to-be-teachers/?postshare=3311448634144257&tid=ss_fb
That doesn’t absolve the facts that make South Dakota the worst of the worst.
Brown’s nonsense probably works well in Gettysburg so he tries to do it statewide. The only thing his spiel proves is that he knows we have a serious problem but he is to politically numb to do anything about it. More Ben Carson word salad. These guys must have had a webinar to teach them the same kind of ridiculous word games. Browny, were on to you and the rest of the cabal in Pierre. Here is the solution, Expand Medicaid. There, that is the solution to bringing in the needed funds to bolster just about all our ills.
Corey bucked Gov Rounds and had a bright future. Gov ordered him In and paddled his can. Just another Gant left the executive office that day.
Even the Mormons understand the value of education for their polygamous sects like the one we have here in Pringle. http://www.sltrib.com/home/3229174-155/public-library-set-to-open-in
Educations are important and we need the vehicles to provide that here for all of our students. I think Browny may be wanting to privatize the schools for his outlaw bunch to skim moolah.
I’m guessing wingnuts lay all the blame on social programs such as food stamps, housing projects,welfare for women with dependent children, and of course,blacks.Medicare,Medicaid,abortions.hippies,Libs and free love with childhood vaccines thrown in for good measure. If it weren’t for Blacks,Hispanics.Indians and other persons of color,Whites wouldn’t need to be racists.
http://juanitajean.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/wpswi151125.gif
How do we end….
Conservatives are forgetting what a conservative is. They think the government does nothing because capitalism fixes it all by itself. Well if we have a shortage the prices should go up, that is the price of teacher pay. That is basic simple capitalism.
Thinking that everyone else has the problem as well means that if we are a bunch of lemmings running off a cliff that we can have self confidence since everyone else is doing it as well. Conservatives are supposed to be for personal responsibility rather than let the feds do it because it is a big problem that we brought on ourselves.
If this clown Brown gets reelected will be proof that the electorate are so disenchanted with government that the voters are not even looking anymore. To many people really do not care about their democracy anymore when they elect such idiots.
When I saw 90 Schilling’s comment, it reminded me of something I heard the other day, but have been unable to confirm. Did Dusty Johnson leave South Dakota government?
Brown is just setting up the Republican talking points that you’ll hear when the legislature convenes and it’ll lead to doing nothing.
Another Republican who doesn’t have the ability to lead.
Johnson joined Vantage Point Solutions, Was hired because of who he knows.
Brown? A conservative?! Come on people! Take a look at all the past legislative voting reports. The guy is a moderate who diligently carrys water for the RINO Daugaard political machine. He’s voted for every tax increase, every government spending increase, every agenda Daugaard has pushed.
Sadly – I believe it is beyond the intellectual capability of any “conservative” to concoct a “logic stream” (however faulty) in service of doing anything other to as little as possible. Same sort of “truthiness” phenomena at work in “conservative” presidential candidates ability to escape accountability for easily identified LIES they speak on the campaign trail. If it “sounds like/represents how I feel” to voters – it’s the “truth”. I.E., an emotional truth TRUMPS any scientific, analytical truth.
Mr. Dakotan, when I look at ALL the past legislature score cards, I see young Mr. Brown as one of the most effective legislatures there. When I look at the whackjob score cards, I just laugh.
And so it begins. It will be fascinating, sad but fascinating, to observe the contortions of the Republican legislators as they avoid doing anything constructive on this issue.
90 schilling noted: “…just another Gant.”
The physical similarity is breathtaking.
Bob, tomorrow at breakfast we will measure neck, jaw, maw and cranium circumferences. I suspect mine and yours are similar.
I have a cloth tape. It is some sort of sewing tool that I cannot explain. This is how we will measure heads and maws.
grudznick has a needledick and a pencilneck, and an obvious restriction of cranial space. Jesus Christ, is his/her string of worthess comments tiresome!
Lanny, is that the guy who tried about every position in Govy jumping more than a paratrooper.
Yes Moses, that’s the guy. At one time he looked like a sure fire future governor, Now I am not so sure.
Just looked at VPS. Under staying ahead of the curve, was this quote, “Many engineering and consulting companies can’t keep up with changing technology or regulatory issues. We have people dedicated to this. We stay ahead of the curve, so our clients do, too.” Dusty should be able to tell them what to say in front of the PUC to get something approved, or to the governor and legislature to get some of that economic development money.
Oh and one other thing, I am sure that the reason Dusty resigned and took the job in the private sector, is that he wants to spend more time with his family, not that he is worried where the EB-5 investigation might lead.
So the other morning at breakfast my friend Bob walks in, sporting one of those goofy hats of his. Then he breaks into some sort of rap about “kicking him, oh come on and kick him, we all have our problems but he has his eyes wide, we have big G’s but he has his hash pipe.”
This confuses me but he has his hash pipe so all is right in his mind.
Folks, this is not benign cannabis use here. This is drug addition and dealing.
Really? GNick? He’s one of the most effective “legislatures” there?
You claim to appreciate libertarians but support the opposite? Maybe you’re doing more than appreciating Bob’s pipes?
The SD Legislature will follow DD’s lead in 2016 and fold like a lawn chair on K-12 funding reform. The only question remaining is will they collectively try to convince the populace that they really are doing something, or will they be bold enough, as it appears Brown does here, to look everyone in the eye and say, “There’s nothing we can do. But don’t worry, everything will be fine.”
Selling cannabis to willing buyers is one of the ways we in America l make the world go round. Grudzneck does all (s)he can to slow it down. That, my DFP friends, is not part of the resume of a good American.
Disgusted Dakotan, is any Republican who sees a need and increases state funding (taxes) to meet that need by definition a “RINO?” You act as if raising taxes is the end of itself – that taxation decisions are made in a vacuum.
In a discussion on taxation that eliminates all discussion of the need for services and benefits of providing those services, then the “no new taxes” mantra works; however, when the discussion progresses beyond politics and into governance, meeting crucial needs of a state goes beyond the simplistic fortune cookie slogans.
That is a great point O. It makes me think of the typical Republican argument that government should be like a family and balance the budget.
In a typical family the breadwinners have a duty to try to maximize the family income so they can provide all the things that family members need, such as food, housing, clothing, education and medical care. If the breadwinner decided to quit earning the income necessary to pay for these things, Republicans would demonize him or her as a lazy non-contributing member of the family.
Cutting taxes accomplishes for our government what quitting a job does for a family. The government stops doing what is necessary to maximize income, goes into debt, and cannot afford to pay for the goods and services needed by the people.
Under the Republican family analogy, then, folks who don’t want to pay taxes are no different than the lazy breadwinner who refuses to work at a job. They are like the teenager who wants a nice warm place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear, but refuses to participate in the family by taking on a fair share of the chores.
Under the Republican family analogy, tax opponents are like selfish teens and lazy breadwinners, they just don’t want to pay their fair share, and fail to recognize that maximizing income and resources benefits their political family, just as working to earn as much money as possible and sharing in the chores of the household benefits a regular family.
Thanks for the share, Cory.
I believe the third installment is on the website as well, about ‘encore careers,’ but not written by yours truly. :)
Does anyone not believe the money would be there if abuse and waste was not tolerated? Clean house and balance the budget. It’s not just teachers in SD. We rise together or we fall apart.
Tasi’s right—here’s the link to the third article in Dakotafire‘s series:
http://dakotafire.net/firedup/mothers-can-bring-experience-to-classrooms-through-encore-careers/9806/
The article discusses the possibility of filling teaching vacancies with previously stay-at-home moms seeking “encore careers.” “If we can’t change pay,” says DeSmet teacher Angie Baszler, “then we need to figure out how to get people who are excellent teachers to go back and do it for something other than the money.”
Doesn’t that prescription sound an awful lot like the teacher pool on which we relied for generations—farm wives looking to supplement household income and not demanding full professional wages—but which has collapsed with the hollowing out of rural America and has left us with a teacher shortage? Doesn’t it sound like South Dakota still trying to get by without paying for the full value of the service it receives? How many other businesses count on finding workers who do the job for sub-par wages just because they love the work?